VoteSTEM and endorsements

Recently there has been some confusion around whether VoteSTEM is endorsing candidates we have vetted. To be clear: we do not endorse any candidates.

Listing a candidate says only two things about them:

they have a STEM background

they do not deny accepted scientific facts like climate change

It does not necessarily imply that they are well qualified to hold office, have good policy positions, are likely to win their election, etc. When multiple STEM candidates are running against one another, all of them are on our list – we do not choose favorites.

Our work is to narrow down the thousands of candidates running for congressional and gubernatorial seats in 2018, and present a distilled list of those with STEM backgrounds. We go one step further and, in as much as we are able, ensure that the candidates aren’t science fact deniers. We aren’t fact checking or doing other investigative work on candidates – our small team of volunteers simply doesn’t have the resources to do that.

Our ultimate goal is to drive more facts, integrity, and truth into politics, both directly by electing politicians with STEM backgrounds and indirectly by encouraging fact-based debates and discussions among candidates.

We wish all STEM candidates success in their races, and hope they will use their platforms to focus on fact-based decisions on the campaign trail and after.